In November 2020, a librarian at the Goucher College Library was processing uncatalogued books in the Special Collections stacks when she discovered a copy of Zelda Fitzgerald’s only novel, Save Me the Waltz (NY: Scribner’s, 1932). Continue reading Sara Haardt Mencken’s Inscribed Copy of Zelda Fitzgerald’s Novel, Save Me the Waltz
All posts by Uyen Nguyen
Spheres of Meaning: An Exhibition of Artists’ Books
Jane Austen Collection at Goucher College
One of Goucher Special Collections & Archives most famous and largest collections is the Jane Austen Collection which includes all of Austen’s first British and American editions as well as rare editions, foreign language translations, and related books about Austen’s life and times. Continue reading Jane Austen Collection at Goucher College
New Eyes on Old Books: Unraveling the Mystery of the Walters Lace Manuscript. Baltimore, MD, The Walters, February 17th, 2021 [Lecture]
The De Bar Hours (W.93), likely created as a wedding gift for a young bride in early 14th century France, is an unusual manuscript with lacy rosettes cut into every one of its parchment margins. Continue reading New Eyes on Old Books: Unraveling the Mystery of the Walters Lace Manuscript. Baltimore, MD, The Walters, February 17th, 2021 [Lecture]
Seigfried Sassoon (1886-1967), David A. Robertson (1880-1961), and Anne Knobel Robertson (?-1942)–Grief, Love, and Books
David A. Robertson was president of Goucher College during its tumultuous move from the downtown Baltimore campus to its current home on a hilltop in Towson. In October 1942, Robertson and his wife, Anne Knobel Robertson, were injured in an auto accident in Baltimore. He recovered from his injuries, but she, originally diagnosed with a concussion, died on November 4. President Robertson and his wife’s friends created a fund to donate books to the Goucher Library collection in her name, each identified by the “A.K.R.” bookplate on the verso of the front cover and a hand-printed pen dedication note from her husband on the facing free endpaper. They populate the Main Collection like Easter eggs, waiting for students to discover them and to be reminded of a man’s long lonely love for his wife. Continue reading Seigfried Sassoon (1886-1967), David A. Robertson (1880-1961), and Anne Knobel Robertson (?-1942)–Grief, Love, and Books
Fun with “A Concordance to the Works of Jane Austen,” Peter L. DeRose and S. W. McGuire, compilers. 3 vols. (NY: Garland, 1982)
While cataloging this donation from the estate of JASNA founder J. David Grey, I noticed that in addition to the typical concordance’s listing, from A to Z, of every usage of every word in an author’s work or works in its phrase context, the third volume of this one ends with Jane’s entire vocabulary stacked in a usage frequency list. Continue reading Fun with “A Concordance to the Works of Jane Austen,” Peter L. DeRose and S. W. McGuire, compilers. 3 vols. (NY: Garland, 1982)
“Egyptian Days”: Medieval help for your calendar from the Berners Hours (Bruges, ca. 1470, atelier of William and Marie Vrelant)
While transcribing the saints and bishops whose prayers were invoked for each month of the year in the Berners Hours calendar, I kept hitting some tough red Latin phrases at the start of each month. This time, rather than ignoring them, I searched for them and found each one listed one line of the dangerous “Egyptian days” on which specific types of bad fortune might be expected. Continue reading “Egyptian Days”: Medieval help for your calendar from the Berners Hours (Bruges, ca. 1470, atelier of William and Marie Vrelant)
Jesse L Cassard Jr., a found silver watch, Another Brownie Book (1890), the Star Spangled Banner, and Sara Provan’s post-1946 Brownie camera
While processing a sequence of C19-20 children’s books for Special Collections,we happened upon a copy of Palmer Cox’s second opus in the wildly popular “Brownie” series, appropriately named “Another Brownie Book” (NY: Century, 1890). Continue reading Jesse L Cassard Jr., a found silver watch, Another Brownie Book (1890), the Star Spangled Banner, and Sara Provan’s post-1946 Brownie camera
Elizabeth Coatsworth & Lynd Ward (illustrator), “The Cat Who Went to Heaven,” NY: Macmillan, 1931
A Newbery Medal winner for 1931. Coatsworth teamed up with the amazing Lynd Ward to tell a Buddhist tale about a painter, his housekeeper, and the calico cat she brings home instead of dinner. Continue reading Elizabeth Coatsworth & Lynd Ward (illustrator), “The Cat Who Went to Heaven,” NY: Macmillan, 1931
Which archbishop belongs to this coat of arms? An 1852 Canon Missal without much provenance evidence
Catholic Church. “Canon missae : ad usum episcoporum ac praelatorum solemniter vel private celebrantium.” Rome: Society for the Propagation of the Faith, 1852. 213 pages, 1 ill., 44 cm. (i.e., it’s huge!) Continue reading Which archbishop belongs to this coat of arms? An 1852 Canon Missal without much provenance evidence